James Baker
Research Technician - Tree Breeding
Forest genetics
Northern Research Station
About James Baker
James joined Forest Research in fall 2025 after completing his PhD at the University of Edinburgh and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. He joined the tree breeding team to help collect and curate data from Sitka spruce breeding trials. He is especially interested in translating science and academia to on-the-ground management and conservation guidance.
James’s PhD, in part supervised by Joan Cottrell, used genetic and ecological information to help inform the conservation of the common juniper tree. He has an BSc from Vanderbilt University in Ecological and Evolutionary Biology, where he got his first taste of academic research in entomology and paleoecology research groups. In the years between his undergraduate and PhD degrees he gained hands-on forestry and arboriculture experience as a wildland firefighter, a youth corps chainsaw crew leader and tree climber.
What James does
James Baker is a Research Technician based at the Northern Research Station. He is assisting the tree breeding team with data management, the curation of novel datasets, analyses, and fieldwork.
Affiliations
International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) – Certified Arborist
Other Publications
Peer reviewed:
Baker, J., Cottrell, J., Ennos, R., Perry, A., A’Hara, S., Green, S., & Cavers, S. (2025). Evidence of genetic isolation and differentiation among historically fragmented British populations of common juniper, Juniperus communis L. Ecology and Evolution, 15(7), e71818.
Baker, J., Cottrell, J., Ennos, R., Perry, A., Green, S., & Cavers, S. (2025). Local genetic adaptations among remnant populations of British common juniper, Juniperus communis, indicated by a common garden trial. Ecology and Evolution, 15(3), e71049.
In preparation/Preprint:
Baker, J. P., Cottrell, J. E., Ennos, R. A., Perry, A., & Cavers, S. Common ground for propagating juniper: collection and germination protocols for British juniper. Available at SSRN 5459720.
Open Access Datasets:
Baker, J.; A’Hara, S.; Perry, A.; Cottrell, J.; Ennos, R.; Green, S.; Cavers, S. (2024). Common juniper single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and microsatellite (SSR) genotype data from individuals sampled from 18 natural UK populations in 2019. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/27e7df36-d689-4803-93b4-c15935693b83
Baker, J.; Perry, A.; Cottrell, J.; Ennos, R.; Green, S.; James, E.; Cavers, S. (2024). Trait data of juniper trees from 16 UK populations in a common garden glasshouse trial. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/330cf3ac-21c3-4fa8-ab76-528f8cb2fbb8
Baker, J.; Perry, A.; Cottrell, J.; Ennos, R.; Green, S.; James, E.; Cavers, S. (2024). Germination rates, seed and berry data of juniper trees from UK populations under a warm-cool stratification glasshouse experiment. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/f61dcdcc-b838-4bfa-8d94-7820114a68c8
Baker, J.; Cottrell, J.; Ennos, R.; Perry, A.; Cavers, S. (2025). Seed traits, seed viability and germination rates of seeds collected from 12 natural Juniper (Juniperus communis) populations in the UK, 2023-2025. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/64607f86-0228-4a03-9d87-6e36435028a1